George Mason University

Uvaldo Acosta and Moyo Kasim had 18 kills each to lead visiting George Mason University (23-3) to a 15-11, 8-15, 15-4, 15-9 nonconference men's volleyball victory over San Diego State Saturday night. Bruk Vandeweghe had 18 kills for SDSU (7-9).

The Galaxy said Monday it has added Kenny Arena, son of Galaxy head coach and General Manager Bruce Arena, to the soccer team's coaching staff. Kenny Arena, 32, has spent the last two years as head soccer coach at Florida International University in Miami, and he's a former coach in the Galaxy Academy for younger players. "We are pleased to add Kenny to our coaching staff," Bruce Arena said in a statement. "Kenny's familiarity with the Galaxy, experience in player development and his knowledge of the college game make him a good fit for our club.

Only seven of the eight quarterfinalists are guaranteed berths in next year's Summer Olympics in Sydney, since one spot goes automatically to the host country, Australia, which was eliminated in the first round here. That means the four quarterfinal winners will qualify for Sydney, along with the three losers that make the best showing. In other words, any team losing 2-0, or worse, in the next two days is in danger of losing its Olympic invitation.

James M. Buchanan, the U.S. economist who won the 1986 Nobel Prize for applying the principles of economic self-interest to understand why politicians do what they do, has died. He was 93. He died Wednesday at a hospital in Blacksburg, Va., according to the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where Buchanan was a distinguished professor emeritus of economics. No cause was given. Buchanan was a pioneer in the field known as public-choice theory, which views government decisions through the personal interests of the bureaucrats and elected leaders who want to advance in their careers and win campaigns.

Paul Westhead, who failed to deliver the exciting, high-scoring game he promised, was fired as basketball coach at George Mason on Tuesday. The Patriots finished their fourth season under Westhead at 10-17, including losses in nine of their last 10 games. "I did the best I could to raise the level of basketball at George Mason University," Westhead said in a written statement. "Our coaching staff worked very hard at turning a down program into a winner.

The Galaxy said Monday it has added Kenny Arena, son of Galaxy head coach and General Manager Bruce Arena, to the soccer team's coaching staff. Kenny Arena, 32, has spent the last two years as head soccer coach at Florida International University in Miami, and he's a former coach in the Galaxy Academy for younger players. "We are pleased to add Kenny to our coaching staff," Bruce Arena said in a statement. "Kenny's familiarity with the Galaxy, experience in player development and his knowledge of the college game make him a good fit for our club.

James M. Buchanan, the U.S. economist who won the 1986 Nobel Prize for applying the principles of economic self-interest to understand why politicians do what they do, has died. He was 93. He died Wednesday at a hospital in Blacksburg, Va., according to the Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., where Buchanan was a distinguished professor emeritus of economics. No cause was given. Buchanan was a pioneer in the field known as public-choice theory, which views government decisions through the personal interests of the bureaucrats and elected leaders who want to advance in their careers and win campaigns.

Their two tragedies this week were totally unrelated except that both victims' lives revolved around basketball and both died violent, unnecessary deaths barely into adulthood. You feel equally badly for both of them. Ricky Berry, 24, a promising basketball player with the Sacramento Kings, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Carlos Yates, 27, the all-time scoring leader at George Mason University, was gunned down in the street in what apparently was a drug-related killing.

Even seeing the logo displayed around the RCA Dome is so incongruous, it seems like a prop from a Hollywood movie about the Final Four, some piece of sentimental fiction. "Mason Patriots" has taken its place alongside the cursive UCLA, Florida's toothy Gator and Louisiana State's Tiger. George Mason is a victory over third-seeded Florida from playing for the NCAA championship Monday.

Florida finally yanked the magic carpet out from under George Mason, and one of the most memorable runs in NCAA tournament history ended Saturday with a 73-58 Florida victory that put the Gators in the national championship game Monday night against UCLA.

Even seeing the logo displayed around the RCA Dome is so incongruous, it seems like a prop from a Hollywood movie about the Final Four, some piece of sentimental fiction. "Mason Patriots" has taken its place alongside the cursive UCLA, Florida's toothy Gator and Louisiana State's Tiger. George Mason is a victory over third-seeded Florida from playing for the NCAA championship Monday.

Only seven of the eight quarterfinalists are guaranteed berths in next year's Summer Olympics in Sydney, since one spot goes automatically to the host country, Australia, which was eliminated in the first round here. That means the four quarterfinal winners will qualify for Sydney, along with the three losers that make the best showing. In other words, any team losing 2-0, or worse, in the next two days is in danger of losing its Olympic invitation.

Paul Westhead, who failed to deliver the exciting, high-scoring game he promised, was fired as basketball coach at George Mason on Tuesday. The Patriots finished their fourth season under Westhead at 10-17, including losses in nine of their last 10 games. "I did the best I could to raise the level of basketball at George Mason University," Westhead said in a written statement. "Our coaching staff worked very hard at turning a down program into a winner.

You can tell by the rush of records broken, and you can see it in the blur of basketballs tossed toward the rim. "Paul Ball," a pulse-pounding blend of basketball and chaos, is alive again. "My system will always surface when I can get good talent and the players are willing to work incredibly hard," Paul Westhead said Wednesday after his George Mason team's quick workout at Pauley Pavilion. "So I always have a chance." "Of course, I always have a chance of destruction too."

Shortly after 11 last Saturday morning, a rack of basketballs sat on the beechwood floor of "The Pit," the University of New Mexico arena that was built in a 56-foot hole on Albuquerque's southeast mesa. The balls awaited the Cal State Long Beach basketball team, which would practice for an hour to prepare for its game that night with Ohio State in the UNM Lobo Invitational Tournament. First to appear in the empty arena was Coach Joe Harrington.

You can tell by the rush of records broken, and you can see it in the blur of basketballs tossed toward the rim. "Paul Ball," a pulse-pounding blend of basketball and chaos, is alive again. "My system will always surface when I can get good talent and the players are willing to work incredibly hard," Paul Westhead said Wednesday after his George Mason team's quick workout at Pauley Pavilion. "So I always have a chance." "Of course, I always have a chance of destruction too."

Their two tragedies this week were totally unrelated except that both victims' lives revolved around basketball and both died violent, unnecessary deaths barely into adulthood. You feel equally badly for both of them. Ricky Berry, 24, a promising basketball player with the Sacramento Kings, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Carlos Yates, 27, the all-time scoring leader at George Mason University, was gunned down in the street in what apparently was a drug-related killing.

Shortly after 11 last Saturday morning, a rack of basketballs sat on the beechwood floor of "The Pit," the University of New Mexico arena that was built in a 56-foot hole on Albuquerque's southeast mesa. The balls awaited the Cal State Long Beach basketball team, which would practice for an hour to prepare for its game that night with Ohio State in the UNM Lobo Invitational Tournament. First to appear in the empty arena was Coach Joe Harrington.